


Dance Lessons

by howlsawiz



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-25 23:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9852410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howlsawiz/pseuds/howlsawiz
Summary: Luna is in Insomnia for a brief visit before the wedding. She and Noctis are practicing their first dance when Prompto interrupts.





	

“Let’s try again,” Luna insisted. She released Noctis’ hand and stepped away to restart the music. Her heels clicked against the polished ballroom floor. Each click echoed against the walls. She restarted the music and quickly returned to her position as the intro filled the air.

“Loosen up,” she said with a small smile.

Noctis swallowed hard and gave a quick nod. He stepped to the side a beat too late. His brow creased as he led the two of them around the center of the room. _Slow, quick, quick. Slow, quick, quick. One, two, three. One, two, three._ He spun her and dipped her, each move stiff and one beat out of sync with the music. The longer it went on, the more mistakes he made. A missed step here, a stepped on toe there. Finally, mid song, he stopped and backed away from her.

“I’m sorry. I know this, I promise.”

Luna smiled. “I know you do. Just, _relax_. We can get through this together.” She placed a gentle hand on Noctis’ cheek. “We still have some time. I don’t go back to Altissia for another three days. The wedding isn’t for another six months. There will be time to practice.”

Noctis nodded. “Yeah.”

“How about we take a short break for now. Okay?”

“Sure.” He watched as Luna turned and left the ballroom. Her words towards him had always felt warm and endearing, but the way she held herself around the royal family was purely formal.      

Noctis sighed and started the music from the top. With his arms out, holding an invisible partner, he tried again. Each step was on time, each turn and dip perfection, though his body remained rigid. He knew their waltz from start to finish perfectly, so why couldn’t he get through it with Luna without some major mishap? She would soon be his wife; so why couldn’t he do this one thing right? The song came to an end and he stood in the center of the floor, still holding on to his pretend Luna.

“Wow, that was so cool!”

Noctis dropped his arms and turned toward the exclamation.

Prompto stood at the edge of the room, his bright blue eyes enamored at what he had seen. He ran up to Noctis, stopping with a bounce on the balls of his feet. “Was that _the_ dance?”

“Yeah. Well, half of it at least.”

“How did you get so good at that?”

“Just another thing a prince has to learn, I guess.” Noctis shrugged. “It’s not the most useful skill for a king, but it’s something I have to know. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, right.” Prompto’s cheeks flushed slightly. “I was going to see if you wanted to come with me for a photoshoot.” He patted the camera-sized bulge in his vest pocket. “I ran into Lady Luna looking for you and she said you’d be in here.”

“I would, but I’ve still have rehearsing to do. Luna should be back soon.”

Prompto’s smile fell. “Oh, right. Yeah, no problem.”

Noctis put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Give me one more hour, and I’ll be yours for the rest of the day.” He gave his shoulder a small shake. “Would that work for you?”

The brilliant smile returned. “Yeah, sounds great. Mind if I take some shots of you and Lady Luna while I wait?” He had already pulled out his camera without waiting for a reply.

Noctis chuckled. “You’re going to do it with or without my permission, so why bother asking?”

Prompto shrugged. He brought the camera to his face. _Click_. The cheeky smirk Noctis loved to see tugged at Prompto’s lips. “Picture perfect,” he teased as he checked the shot.

“Let me see.” Noct stepped closer to his friend, holding his hand out expectantly.

Prompto turned the camera away, still staring at the screen. “Oh my god, Noct.”

“What? Let me see.” He reached out for the camera, but Prompto was too quick.

“You look so…” He continued to fight off Noctis’ struggle to take the camera.

“What? I look so what? Prompto give me that damn camera.”

Prompto ducked and weaved his way out of every one of Noctis’ advances. “Geez, Noct, Gladio has been slacking,” he teased.

An echoing giggle caused both boys to freeze. They turned and saw Luna standing in the doorway. She made her way over to the boys, a glass of water in her hands. “Should I leave you two alone for a bit longer?”

Noctis took the opportunity to snatch the camera out of Prompto’s hands.

“Lady Luna, we were just…I mean I, er, Noct suggested I get some shots of you two practicing. If that’s alright with you, that is.”

“Prompto, I look stupid. I’m deleting it.”

“What?” He looked down at his now empty hands. “Hey, give that back!” He lunged at Noctis in a futile attempt to retrieve his camera. “Don’t delete—”

Noctis held Prompto out of reach with one hand. “Too late.” He smirked and tossed the camera back to him.

Prompto fumbled with it a moment before quickly checking to see if the snap was actually gone. It wasn’t.

“Shall we get back to it?” Noct asked Luna.

“Hydrate first, then we can resume.” She handed the glass of water to Noctis, who quickly drained its contents and handed the empty glass back to her.

“Thanks.”

Luna nodded and went to restart the music. She set the glass down next to the music player. She got into position and this time, she counted down the beats for Noctis.

Off they went sailing across the floor, Luna’s long white dress giving her the illusion of floating in Noctis’ arms. Prompto bounced around, the shutter snapping rapid fire. They didn’t call him a sharpshooter for nothing.

“Do you two have plans?” She gave a small nod toward Prompto.

“He wants to go out for a shoot.” He spun her out until they were at arm’s length from each other. He pulled her back to him. “I told him to give us an hour. I want to do this right at least once.”

“You are close with him, aren’t you?”

Noctis dipped her. “I guess.”

“Noctis.” She gave him a knowing look. There hadn’t been an entry in their notebook that didn’t mention Prompto since Noctis started high school. They both knew his answer was inaccurate.

The next spin, Luna let go of his hand. Noctis’ brow furrowed and he stopped moving.

“I just remembered. I promised Nyx council before dinner.” She bowed slightly in Prompto’s direction. “I hope you will be able to join us, Prompto.”

Prompto pulled his camera from his face. “I, uh, s-sure.” He looked over at Noctis for approval.

Noctis smiled and nodded.

“Good. I shall see you both then.” With that, she took her leave.

“Wow, Noct, you guys looked really good,” Prompto said. His head was bent over his camera, images of Luna and Noctis mid-dance flashing on the screen. “Seemed like you were really getting it toward the end there.” He handed the camera over to Noctis.

“I know the routine. I can do it in my sleep. I can do it alone. I just can’t do it with her.” He flipped through the pictures. Each still moment showed the best of the two of them. The angles forgave the mistakes. Luna looked stunning, and he, well, he looked almost robotic. He sighed and handed the camera back to Prompto.

“Why not?” Prompto continued to sift through the shots he had taken.

Noctis didn’t have a real answer. The question had been tugging at him all afternoon. What was his problem?

“Hey uh, Prompto, mind if I try something before we go?”

 

***

“How can you make this look so effortless?” Prompto whined. He looked down at his feet and stumbled over Noctis’.

“Years of practice and not looking at my feet.”

“But then how do I know where my feet go?” Prompto asked, letting go of Noct.

“You just have to trust they’ll go where you want them to go. This kind of dance is about the connection of the partners and their trust they won’t let each other fall. Here,” he held out his hand, “do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.” Prompto took his hand and Noctis pulled him close. He stumbled forward and reached out his other arm to steady himself. It landed on Noct’s already positioned arm.

Noct adjusted Prompto’s hand and placed his own on Prompto’s shoulder blade. He smirked. “You ready?”

“Not really.” Prompto tensed.

“Hey, you said you trusted me,” Noct teased.

“I-I do!” he protested. A soft pink flooded his cheeks.

“Okay then,” Noct leaned in closer, “Don’t forget to focus on me and not your feet.”

The pink in Prompto’s cheeks darkened. He nodded. “R-right, okay, yeah.”

They started of slow, the basic rise and fall, Noctis whispering the count to Prompto to try and help him get the feel easier. Prompto’s head would wander downward from time to time, and before Noctis could remind him, his head snapped back up. Noct smiled as he watched him.

“Time to take it to the next level,” he said.

“What?” Prompto’s eyes widened.

“Yeah.” He smirked. He let go of Prompto’s body, spun him around, and pulled him close again. Noct picked up the pacing a bit and glided them across the floor.

Prompto couldn’t help himself. He looked down.

“Eyes on me, Prompto.”

“R-right. Of course. That would make sense. I mean, I just can't figure out where my feet are—”

“Prompto.”

"Yeah, I'll stop talking now.”

Noctis stopped. “Here.” He wrapped his arm around Prompto’s waist and pulled him close so he stood on his toes. “Now you don’t have to worry.”

Prompto’s face reddened. The mass of freckles seemed to fade into the new color in his face. That close to Noctis, he had no choice but to watch him.

Noctis held him tight as he waltzed the both of them around the ballroom. Why was this so much easier with him? He wasn’t marrying Prompto. This wasn’t how it was going to end. He and Luna had been betrothed for as long as he could remember. But maybe even marriage would be easier with Prompto. He had never been so relaxed around anyone in so long. Gods, he smelled good. He dipped him. Prompto panicked and clung to him. Their faces were so close. Noctis stared at his lips. All he would have to do was lean in just a little closer and—

 _Click_.

Noctis snapped out of his thoughts and brought Prompto back to his feet. He turned and found Luna standing at the edge of the dance floor, Prompto’s camera in her hand. She had changed out of her dress and into tan pants and a grey sweater. Her hair hung in a braid over her left shoulder. She smiled down at the camera screen.

“You might have some competition for the title of sharpshooter,” she said, clearly proud of herself.

“What? Can I see?” Prompto quickly left Noct’s side and reached out for his camera.

“How long have you been here?” Noctis asked.

“Long enough.” She smiled at him and handed the camera over to Prompto.

Prompto flipped through the few shots she had taken. “These are really good, Lady Luna.”

“Easy enough when I have subjects like you two.” She looked over Prompto’s shoulder and pointed at the screen. “Send me a print of this one, okay?”

Prompto’s face flushed. “Uh, y-yeah, sure. No problem.”

She gently took the camera back from him, then placed it in Noct’s hands. She kissed his cheek before letting go. “Might want to really think about what you want. You have six months.” She turned to Prompto. “Dinner is ready. What do you say we go on ahead?” Luna slipped her arm around his.

“Uh, okay. What about Noct?” He asked. His face reddened.

“He’ll be along shortly. Won’t you, Noctis?” She asked with a small smile.

Noctis stared at the still on the camera screen.

“Noct?” Prompto asked.

Noctis snapped out of his trance and looked up. “Yeah, um, I’ll catch up. I’ve got something to do first.”

Prompto nodded, but the crease in his brow wasn’t reassured from Noctis’ words.

Luna led Prompto out of the room, the doors closing behind them.

Noctis stood, frozen to the spot. He stared at the camera screen. The scene staring back at him was a very different scene than what Prompto had captured earlier. It was the moment he had dipped Prompto, their faces inches from each other. That was when he noticed the look in his own eyes. It wasn’t exactly the same loving look Luna shared with him, and it was certainly one he never gave her. There was more to it. A longing, maybe? For what, he wasn’t sure. He scanned Prompto’s face. While he was startled by the sudden falling feeling, he saw a different glint in his eyes. His stiff body failed him, but his eyes held a trust he hadn’t really noticed before. Had he always looked at him like that?

He flipped through the rest of the pictures Luna had taken, then to the ones Prompto took. He was looking at two different people. He wanted to look as relaxed with Luna as he did with Prompto. He wanted things to come as easily as it did when he was with him. He wished he didn’t have to work so hard to be normal with the woman he was about to marry, but he had a duty to his kingdom.

_But what do I want, really?_


End file.
